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The three tanks below were built for the 'From Russia with Love' GB. As there are a lot of photos of each I will post them in three separate posts in this thread.

All three tanks on the diorama:

Russian Tank T-34/76 Model 1941 (Cast turret)

This first tank here is Tamiya's 1/48 T-34/76 Model 1941 with the cast turret.

When first encountered on the battlefield the T-34s were described by German Tank General Von Kleist as 'the finest tank in the world'. It was, at the time, far better than contemporary German tanks. It was as a result of these tanks that the Germans developed the Panther and Tiger tanks and it was only as the war went on that the T-34 variants lost their superiority. The T-34 was fitted with 76.2mm gun which was also pretty impressive at the time. Another thing to note was the fact that the cast turret had several handrails which could be used by Russian soldiers who were transported on these tanks - this was one of the first tanks to be used in this way. The T-34 and its variants went on to be one of the most produced tanks of all time and a few are still in use today in some countries.

As with most of Tamiya's 1/48 armour it was a real pleasure to build.

Kit: Tamiya 1/48 T-34/76 Model 1941 (Cast turret)

Extras: Stretched sprue aerial (although I hadn't fitted it when I took the photos below)

The second Russian tank I made for the 'From Russia with Love' GB is Tamiya's 1/48 SU122.

The SU122 was an assault gun that was actually built on the hull design of the T-34 and it first saw production in late 1942. It was fitted with a M-30S 122mm Howitzer. The SU122 proved to be good at it's role of providing direct fire on strongholds but it could, apparently, blow the turret off a Tiger 1 if a direct hit was achieved.

This again was a lovely kit to build and I have added a crew figure to this one.

The third kit for my ‘From Russia with Love’ GB project is Tamiya’s 1/48 KV-1 with Applique Armour.

The KV series of tanks were named after Kliment Voroshilov who was a Soviet politician and defence commissar. Early in the war these tanks were known for their heavy armour and, like the T-34s, the German tanks of the time did not prove much of a threat. The initial KV-1 design went through several development stages and in 1940 this included bolting on additional or ’Appliqué' armour. This version had a powerful 76.2mm gun.

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Lovely job on all three of them Stix. The painting and weathering is superb, and all done with the hairy stick! The only thing that lets them down for me (and I mean the kits, not your builds), is those rubbish tow ropes that Tamiya include in all of their 1/48th armour kits.

Somebody has been busy. And here I was hinting that you were slow, yah right, foot in mouth again.

As usual these are all fantastic and done with a b.r.u.s.h no less. You continue to amaze me, the painting is awesome and the weathering is superb.

Keep 'em coming,

Lloyd

Hi Lloyd and thank you very much for your very kind comments. One of the reasons I like GBs is that they encourage me to get on with it! Sometimes, outside of GBs, I can spend too much time worrying about and working on details which sometimes won't ever be seen. In GBs I have a deadline to work to which means I enjoy building the kit itself. I still sometimes add extras but keep them to a minimum unless the base kit is lacking in some major way. Thank you again.

I've never been a paticular fan of Russian aFV's, but I really like all of those! Your paint & weathering looks tremendous, & I think the SU122 commander peering around the hatch is brilliant!

Cracking work on them all, I'm off to have a look at the w.i.p.'s & your diorama pics now!

Keith

Hi Keith and thank you very much for your kind comments. The SU122 commander is a nice figure and I think this figure - in Tamiya's Russian set - is designed specifically for this kit. It might have been good if they had actually included in the SU122 kit!

Lovely job on all three of them Stix. The painting and weathering is superb, and all done with the hairy stick! The only thing that lets them down for me (and I mean the kits, not your builds), is those rubbish tow ropes that Tamiya include in all of their 1/48th armour kits.

John.

Hi John. Thank you very much for your kind comments. Yep - hairy sticks rule!! I do agree with you about their tow rope/cables. I must pick up some picture frame hanging wire at some point to replace them. If I hadn't been building these in a GB I may have waited until I had some to replace these.

Three more stunners for the collection. Never cease to be amazed with what you can achieve with the old hairy stick! 👍

Regards

Steve

Hi Steve and thank you very much for your very kind comments. Most of what I learnt about using brushes came from reading Britmodeller - so thanks must go to those more experienced than me for posting their knowledge and works.

Great trio. Not done any 1/48 scale armour for years. There was a firm that did a few in the late sixties or early seventies - Aurora?

Pete

Hi Pete and thank you very much. 1/48 armour from Tamiya is a real joy to build - if you fancy a go I can certainly recommend them. And yes, I think Aurora were the makers of 1/48 armour but I never made or owned any.